Pirates of the Caribbean IV
by Olivia Ann
Summary: “What if I were to tell you that the power to have whatever you want - whenever you want - is right there... on your finger?” It's an ancient talisman Captain Jack Sparrow is after... But he isn't the only one with the treasure on his mind.
1. PROLOGUE

Notesy notesy - This story is told in summary-ish format... That is to say, it isn't a technical narrative story at this point. This project began as me making up something and verbally telling it to a group on the spot, so the way I have written it is essentially meant to mimic what it would sound like if I were describing it to you. I plan to go back later and flesh it out and add proper dialogue and make it into a real fanfiction, but for now, this is good. AND don't get the wrong idea - this isn't just bullet points or anything... it's actually legitimately pretty entertaining... or I thought it was, at least. Haha.

**PLEASE TO ENJOY.**

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**PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN IV**

**PROLOGUE**

The story opens on a dark, stormy night. A great ship is being tossed back and forth in a thunderous gale. Lightning flashes, illuminating a frightened crew of sailors attempting to man their stations in the storm. A wave crashing on the side of the ship pitches a slough of men overboard, and they are lost in the sea. Sailors on board hold onto whatever they can for dear life. A bearded man in an elaborate Spanish costume bursts from the door to the galley followed closely by another younger man. The younger man holds in his hands a dark, leather-bound book. The two of them argue about the state of the ship and how all their lives are endangered. The bearded man wishes to keep sailing, but the younger man insists that it is suicide to continue in this weather. Thunder crashes above them, and the bearded man points out that there's no turning back -- it's suicide either way. The younger man is at a loss for words.

Suddenly, another crash sends men hurtling across the ship and causes the starboard side of the ship to splinter and cut through the air. The younger man has fallen to his stomach to dodge the flying debris, dropping the leather-bound book as he does. The book slides to rest precariously on another piece of splintered wood. As the younger man looks up, he sees the older man has been impaled by a huge piece of the broken ship. He stands and stumbles to the bearded man, lifting him and cradling him in his arms.

The bearded man is still alive, but barely. His eyelids flicker open and closed and the remainder of his strength, makes a fist and shoves something into the hand of his companion, then reaches up and grabs the younger man's shirt in his hands. Shaking tremulously, he bids the younger man "come back for him when he finds it". And with that, his eyes roll back into his skull as blood begins to drip from the corners of his mouth. The younger man, distraught, opens his fist and finds that the bearded man had placed a ruby ring in his hand. His face immediately crumbles, and tears begin to fall down his cheeks, intermingling with the rain from above. The leather-bound book slips from its place at the edge of the ship, and falls forgotten into the raging sea. Still cradling the older man in his arms, he raises his head and curses the sky as sailors scurry around him. The lightning flashes and the thunder rumbles, and the man's cries are lost in the din of the storm.


	2. PART I

**And now... the REAL story...**

Disclaimer: Weird, but I think all these characters could be considered mine... Well, I suppose I made them up, so... yeah? Right?

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**PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN IV  
PART I**

All at once, the scene changes. It is a windy night, and a harsh breeze howls through the streets on the island of Saint Lucia. A long cobblestone street winds down the center of the town. At the end of this street is a ramshackle tavern, with a wooden sign swinging wildly from its overhanging, bearing the title "Le Sirène" in cracked, yellow letters. A figurehead of the tavern's namesake bedecks the front of the building.

Inside the tavern, patrons enjoy themselves while swigging drinks, dancing, laughing, and making merry. A fiddler sits upon a barrel, playing a jaunty tune at what seems almost like warp-speed. A couple women are giggling and sitting upon the laps of some very enthusiastic sailors. One bosomy, severe-looking women with pale, powdered skin and reddish-blonde flyaway curls smiles her way through the crowd, playing a good hostess to the tavern. However, as she steps into the bar area and kitchen, her demeanor turns sour and her irritation shows through. She picks up a broom, hikes up her skirt and squats on the ground, brushing some of the straw on the floor to the side with one hand and using the handle of the broom to knock on what looks like a wooden trap door in the floor with the other.

Below, a small, dark-haired girl sleeps amongst a cluster of barrels in what looks to be a dirt cellar. A book rests across her face with one hand resting atop it. She sits up slowly, taking the book off her face as she does, and we see that she has straw tangled in her messy hair. She squints up at the trap door, which is now shaking violently from being beaten with the broom. She turns quickly to her side, brushing away some of the hay to reveal a small cluster of baubles and trinkets, then carefully rearranges the straw so that the items are hidden once more. The pounding persists, and she scowls and stands to look up at the trap door with a look of utmost animosity etched across her face. She climbs up the latter to the door.

She lifts up the wooden flap and looks unapologetically up at the severe looking woman, Madame Géroux. Madame Géroux demands what the girl, Katherine (called Kat), has been doing. Kat tries to explain herself, but Madame Géroux shushes her. Monsieur Géroux smiles and laughs with a patron, then approaches angrily. He hisses about why they should even keep her there at all, which Kat points out quite easily is for the free labor, which Madame Géroux reproaches angrily. She snaps that while she has been sleeping, there has been no one to clean out the bedpans in the rooms and the patrons are beginning to complain about a horrible smell. Kat answers that it should be none of her business whether or not bedpans are cleaned, and that one of these days she will get off the forsaken island for good. Madame Géroux laughs coldly as Monsieur Géroux walks away, a smirk on his face. Madame Géroux taunts Kat, ridiculing her well-known dream to make the journey to London. She points out that even if she found someone to take her, they would never agree to it with such 'unsatisfactory leverage' (haha, a no-boobs joke). Kat gives the woman a steely look, saying that she shouldn't count on it - that sort of leverage can only get you so far (taking a dig at Madame Géroux's own unsavory situation). Madame Géroux ceases her laughter, her face pinching into an expression of quiet rage. She hisses through clenched teeth that Kat had best watch her mouth, lest she let it slip to Monsieur Géroux where the patrons' jewelry's been slipping off to as of late. Kat glares back at the women, then crawls silently from the hole and begins to walk away. Madame Géroux swats her with a broom as she passes to head for the stairs, reminding Kat that any 'misplaced' jewelry should come to her.

Kat heads for the stairway to the hall above, where an inn portion of the tavern exists. As she makes her over, she ignores the whistling and gestures of the patrons, and even manages to lift a coin purse off of one man with his back turned to her. She smiles as she moves past, then takes a peek at her loot and stuffs it down her bodice. In her distraction, she winds up bumping into a well-dressed man in a black dress-coat and a hat to match. The man has very sallow skin and odd goatee. Kat is startled and tries to move away, but the man corners her and asks how he may acquire a room. Kat points out Monsieur and Madame Géroux, identifying them as the ones that he should speak to, and leaves him in the doorway. Happy to be rid of the strange man, she bounds up the stairs, grabbing a cloth that hangs over a hook in the hall, and a bucket of water, then trudges to the first door in the hall. She knocks on the door, and a heavily made-up tavern wench opens the door as she giggles at a half-clothed man resting on the bed behind her. She turns to Kat, instantly losing her jovialness and snaps at Kat that they're busy. She slams the door in Kat's face. Kat sighs and rolls her eyes, then moves to the next door. She knocks, but there is no answer. She sniffs the air, detecting an odd odor. She touches the door and it swings slowly open.

The room is very dark. Kat enters, covering her nose. She reaches for the flint on the table by the door, strikes it and lights a candle. As she does, a body is illuminated on the bed behind her. She turns and shrieks, covering her mouth and bumping back against the table behind her. She reaches back for the candle and lifts it, lighting her way over to the form. His body is arranged in an odd fashion, clutching a walking stick to his chest. His hat is covering his face, so she lifts it up. His face is clearly bloated and discolored--he has been dead for a few days, at least. Kat gags and covers her mouth, dropping the hat back on top of his face. She notes to herself that the offending stench that everyone had been complaining about clearly wasn't that of a bed pan. She goes to open the window to let some fresh air in the room. As she does, something to her right catches her eye. Something is glinting in a hole in the wall from the light cast by the reflection of fire from the window pane. She slowly moves to the hole, holding up her candle to it. Something shines back at her again. Thinking for a moment, she bites her lip and reaches her hand cautiously into the hole, then pulls out a ring decorated with a deep ruby gem. She examines the ring a bit, then glances over her shoulder at the man on the bed before slipping it onto her finger.

Suddenly, the door bursts open. Madame Géroux stands in the door way. Kat turns around quickly, hiding her hands behind her back. Madame Géroux swears in French, lifting her apron over her nose in response to the stench. She curses the dead man for renting the room, and, noting the hole in the wall, for defacing their fine establishment as well. She leaves to go fetch her husband to get some men to take the body outside, and Kat breathes a sigh of relief that she wasn't caught with the ring. She goes to pull it off her finger, but the ring is now stuck. She begins to panic, sticking her hands in the putrid room-washing water in an attempt to grease up her finger so that she may slip off the ring. But she can't get it off.

Cursing, Kat jumps to her feet and moves out the door, concealing her hand beneath part of her dress. She slips down the stairs, hoping to find a way to get the ring off somewhere else or by some other means. She begins to edge her way through the crowd.

Without warning, Kat is stopped by the sallow-skinned man with goatee once more. He cuts her off and she tries to move away, but the man grabs her arm. Kat is disturbed by the man's persistence. He lowers his voice, pulling her closer, then says that he needs a particular room… one which may have had a gentleman patron very recently... A man with a walking stick? Spanish, he adds. She nervously repeats that the man should ask Monsieur and Madame Géroux and that she can do nothing for him. The man holds on to her, insisting that perhaps she could just show him to the room and that he's looking for something very particular which the man may have. His hand has slid down to grip her hand, and he touches the ring. He looks down at her fingers and a look of recognition registers on his face. Kat realizes that even though he has gotten the description of the dead man upstairs wrong, what he wanted from that man is very much on her finger. Kat is at this point quite fearful. He moves to grab her, but luckily, the man is distracted by another patron's stumbling into him. Kat swiftly edges away and back up the stairs.

Kat rushes back to the room and the bucket of water. With a renewed sense of urgency where the ring is concerned, Kat begins to scrub harder at her finger with the cloth.

An abrupt scream from downstairs startles her to look up from the bucket. More screams follow, and shouting, and sounds of movement and crashing. Kat stands and runs out the door, looking down the stairs. A crew of motley looking pirates stand spread about the room below her, their swords drawn, ready for battle. One of them, she notes, is the sallow-skinned man. The rest of the patrons are scurrying around, looking for an escape. She leans over the railing, hoping to get a better look at the rest of the assailants, but the railing cracks under her weight and a piece of wood falls and lands on the floor beside the pirates. They look up at Kat, whose eyes widen as the pirates below smile. Two of the men break away from the others and begin to head up the stairs. Kat runs back into the room and grabs the dirty water, then rushes back out and pours the water down the stairs. The pirates slip on the grimy suds and fall backwards, biding Kat some time. Kat rushes back in the room and for the window. She stops short, realizing that she should grab a weapon. She looks around the room for something to fit the bill, and her eyes rest on the staff in the dead man's hands. She cringes, then walks over to the man and, with great disgust, pulls his stiff fingers from the walking stick and takes it.

She rushes back to the window and climbs out onto a small ledge and into the night sky. She grabs onto the swinging Sirène sign and onto the next ledge, then climbs into the window which opens up above the landing. Another pirate immediately rushes her, but she clocks him in the face with the walking stick. He falls back, clutching his nose, and the sallow-skinned man attempts to grab at her. She ducks away from him and runs through the crowd and to the kitchen. A pot is boiling over a fire in the middle of the room. The sallow-skinned man has followed her in with a few of his friends. She runs behind the pot and the men approach her, laughing. The sallow-skinned man asks her that she just give him the ring so that he won't have to take extreme measures. She pushes the boiling pot over onto the pirates' legs and feet, causing them to howl in pain and clutch at their burning legs. Kat turns and runs again, making a rush for the back door. As she leaves, the sallow-skinned man clutches his burnt legs, shrieking and cursing, ordering his men to follow the girl and get the ring.

Kat bursts out onto the street, and rushes down and alley. She can hear men shouting behind her, so she ducks and crawls into the darkness. She edges her way down an alley, glancing behind her to make certain that she isn't being followed. She stops, breathing hard, thinking she has gotten away. She leans onto her knees, smiling a little at her success, but is hit in the back of the head by another pirate and is knocked out cold.


	3. PART II

**Hooray... **

Gettin' good now...

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PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN IV  
PART II 

Kat wakes sometime later laying in a pile of hay with firelight flickering on her face. There is much jovial laughter in the air and hoots and hollers. She sits up and realizes that her wrists are bound in rope. She immediately checks her fingers, and is relieved to see that she still has the ring. She is approached by a man with a dark haired man in a black, curly wig. She squints at him as he tells her it's her time, and she asks him time for what? He grabs at the rope around her wrists and pulls her to her feet, then thrusts her through a makeshift curtain onto a makeshift stage in the square. She is greeted by the cheers of many men sitting about on barrels and standing on the balconies of the buildings in the square. She looks back and forth, noting that there is a string of women to her left, all tied up as she is. At the head of the line is a very unattractive, obese, near-toothless woman who is grinning at the crowd and batting her eyelashes. Behind her, a curvaceous redhead is striking poses and playing coy for the crowd. The crowd in turn is chanting "We wants the redhead!" over and over.

The pointy bearded pirate pushes her forward, and in turn, Kat replies, "You hear them - they want the redhead." The pirate shoves her hard, center stage, then commands the audience. Kat tries to run, but the pirate holds her still with the rope on her wrists. He introduces her as a little wench, young too, and a real spitfire. As he makes his pitch, a cloaked figure enters into the square, but he takes little interest in the festivities. The pirate makes one final point of Kat's worth, pointing out that there is a beautiful ruby ring on her finger, doubling her worth. This catches the interest of the hooded man immediately, and he perks up in his seat. The pirate asks if there are any takers. One man, a bulbous, ugly fellow raises his hand and shouts out an offer. The hooded figure raises his hand to raise the bid. The bulbous man raises his hand again, as does the hooded figure. This continues for a while until it appears as though the hooded figure has won. But just as the hooded man stands to claim his prize, the bulbous pirate makes one final, huge offer. Kat is surprised by how much the man is willing to pay for her and extremely disgusted that she has just been bought by such an ugly, toad-like person. The hooded figure, not willing to take his loss, notes a rope above the proceedings that is holding up the curtain. The rope is rigged from the top of the buildings on the back side of the curtain. The hooded figure steps out of the picture as the auctioneer pirate announces that the ugly man has won the bidding, and may claim his prize.

Just as he is about to collect his winnings, the hooded figure swoops down on a rope and grabs up Kat and swings the two of them into the window of another building. He pulls her through the room, out into the hallway, and into another room, where he shuts, locks, and bars the door.

Kat begins to give the man reasons for why he shouldn't want her, citing everything from she would be horrible at whatever it was that he planned to do with her to that she has had some odd itching in her nether regions which he would probably rather avoid, but the figure shushes her and lifts off his hood. It is Jack Sparrow. He tells her that he's not interested in what she's talking about but thank you very much for offering. He would just like the ring if that would be alright and then he would be on his merry way and she could go back to the bulbous, ugly man. Kat answers that she would love to give him the ring, but it's stuck on her finger. Jack promptly pulls out a dagger and readies himself to remedy the situation, but Kat stops him and begs him to reconsider. Can't he find another ring instead. Jack answers that there's only one ring he's desperate for, and it's on her finger - and desperate people do desperate things for things they desperately want. She squeezes her eyes shut, begging that he just take her with him instead.

Jack thinks it over, then lunges forward with the knife, frightening Kat, but he merely cuts off her ropes and agrees to take her along just as someone begins pounding on the door. He rushes to the window on the other side of the room, looking for another convenient rope, but decides that there is nothing for them to do but jump. Kat asks him where, and he gestures to the twin barrels of water below them. Kat asks if he's crazy, and he replies, "I'm Captain Jack Sparrow, mate." She asks him what the hell that's supposed to mean, and he scowls at her. The barricades at the door break and the door breaks open, and he pushes her off the balcony and into one of the barrels before she has any time to protest. He jumps off after her and lands in the other barrel. She sputters out of the barrel and he jumps out quickly and grabs her, pulling her after him through the streets. As they run, Jack explains that they'll be able to escape on his ship. A barrage of pirates chases after them, following them to the harbor, where they run down the beach.

"I thought you said you had a ship," Kat says when they stop, looking around. Jack stops to catch his breath and the two of them pant, then he points out far into the harbor, where a ship is sailing. "You've got to be kidding me," she replies. Jack grabs her arm and pulls her down the dock where they both jump in the water. "Swim! Swim as though you were being chased by a barrage of bloodthirsty, lustful pirates!" he commands.

"We are being chased by a barrage of bloodthirsty, lustful pirates!" she shrieks back.

"Well, that's the beauty of it then, isn't is?"

He then pushes her head under the water. He lowers his head further, so that he may still see the pirates as they run onto the beach and away, having not spotted Jack and Kat. Kat resurfaces with a deep breath, then hits Jack and demands to know if he is trying to killing her. Jack merely paddles away and Kat has to swim after him.

Sometime later, they reach the ship. Jack climbs up onto the deck, then turns to pulls Kat aboard. He asks if the swimming has loosened up the ring at all. Kat ignores him. He begins to mess with the different parts of the ship. Kat follows him and asks him what his plan is. He asks her what plan, and Kat falls silent. She then asks where his crew is. He returns that he suspects that they're somewhere out there, and she asks him what he means. "Not on the ship," he replies, adding, "Not yet."

"Not on your ship?" Jack stops and turns to her, then hands her a long piece of wood that he has just inspected.

"On my ship." He answers, turning away and grabbing another piece of wood.

"Then where?" she demands, bothered by the fact that their conversation seems to be going in circles.

"On my ship."

"But…"

"Not my ship."

Her eyes widen, and he nods at the piece of wood in her hands. "You'll be needing that. Now duck."

A pirate has crept up behind her, and lunges to overtake her. Kat turns and shrieks, then hunches to her knees. Jack smacks the pirate across the face with his own board. The pirate falls to his back, just as two more pirates run up onto the deck. Kat stands and begins to move back towards Jack. As she turns, another one of the pirates approaches, and she accidentally hits him in the face with the back end of her board. He stumbles back and runs into the third pirate. The first pirate has crawled back onto his feet, and is approaching again. He pulls out a sword, as do his other two companions momentarily. Kat casts a frightened look at Jack, who shrugs and drops his piece of wood, then quickly pulls out his own weapon. The second and third pirate immediately rush on Jack, but the first turns to pursue Kat. She shrieks, running away from him and climbing up onto the helm, still holding the board. She tries to duck behind things, but the man corners her. In a last ditch effort to escape, she slams the piece of wood into the pirate's foot. He howls and grabs at his wounded toes. Kat drops the wood and slides through the railings and back down to the main deck, scurrying over to where Jack is still fighting the two other pirates. One of the his pirates break away from the battle and approaches Kat. She immediately turns and grabs Jack's discarded board, swinging herself around just in time to parry the blow of the pirate's sword. His sword stabs into the board and becomes stuck. Kat backs away and Jack runs to her. The second pirate manages to get his sword unstuck from the piece of wood, then hurries to join the third pirate. The first pirate has recovered from his foot being smashed, and has also joined the other two. They try to regroup.

Jack, with one swipe of his sword, cuts a long piece of rope that has the mast rigged to it. The mast whips out, and Jack pulls Kat down to the deck just as the mast swings around and knocks the three pirates off the side of the boat. The mast falls into place, and the sails puff up and the ship begins to move away. Jack and Kat run to the side of the boat and looks down at the three flailing pirates in the water below. Jack thanks them for their fine vessel, then bids them adieu with a tip of his hat.

And with that, he straightens back up and climbs to the helm. Kat hops after him, asking what they are to do now. Jack makes a face as he turns the wheel just a notch to the left, licking his finger and lifting it to the wind. He nods, grabs one of the pieces of wood, jams it into a position to hold the wheel in place, then abandons the helm and moves down to inspect the captain's quarters. Kat follows him down the stairs and through the door. Jack has began to examine the contents of the barrels, chests and drawers that fill the room. Kat demands, "Well?" Jack answers, "Well what?" Kat repeats her question, but Jack has let out an excited "ooh" and run across the room to open another chest, this one with intricate designs on it. Kat tries to get his attention, but he has lifted from the chest a dress to hold up to her tiny frame. She scowls. Jack shrugs and drops the dress, saying, "You would never fill it out, anyway," then turns back to the chest.

Indignant, Kat begins again to ask him what is going on in the first place. She begins to talk about the ring and wonders aloud why it is of such interest. Jack, not turning from rummaging through the chest, reaches into his vest and pulls out a worn, leather-bound book and tosses it over his shoulder to Kat (A book which, even in its wear and tear, is familiar to the audience). Kat catches the book and casts a skeptical look at Jack, but he is too busy to notice. She opens it up and asks, "What is this?" Jack ignores her and continues to look through the contents of the chest. Kat scowls and thumbs through the pages, then abruptly stops when she comes across a drawing of the ring she is wearing. "The ring…" she murmurs, brushing a hand across the page. She looks up to watch Jack's form, still hunched over the chest, now surrounded by discarded items which he has plowed through. "The ring… this is my ring."

"Your ring," he repeats, not looking up from his quarry.

Kat looks back down at the pages. "What is this writing? I can't make it out." "Latin," Jack answers, then adds with a grin, "Cogito sumere potum alterum." Kat gives him an odd look and he turns to eye her over his shoulder, explaining, "'I think I'll have another drink'… I never forget that one."

Kat's gaze returns to the book. She asks Jack what it all says, but he has become distracted as he moves to another chest. Kat looks at her hand, comparing the ring in the picture to the one she is wearing. Jack flings an article of clothing back and it lands on top of Kat's head, shrouding her in fabric. Kat moves the thing to hang over her shoulder, still fixed on the book. Jack has retrieved an gold-looking candelabra from another new chest and has stood to evaluate it in the light of the lantern hanging above.

Kat remarks on how it's odd that so many people want the ring. Jack balks, flinging the candelabra and turning to grab Kat's shoulders. He demands to know what she means by that. Kat is backed up against the wall, her face turned so that she doesn't have to smell Jack's foul breath. She acquaints with him her tale of the goateed man who seemed to have a particular interest in the ring. Jack holds onto her shoulders, a look of understanding registering across his face briefly. The look is fleeting, and he quickly turns back around and moves to another chest.

Jack is silent for a few moments, then turns back to look at Kat. He asks her if she knows anything of life after death. She gives him a peculiar look and answers back with a typical "no, of course not, why the hell would I know anything about that," kind of response. Jack raises an eyebrow in response to her cheek, then brings his palms together and begins tapping his fingertips. He then clasps his hands together, his two index fingers fixed and brought to his lips, thinking. He asks her if she's ever lost something she wished to have back. She doesn't understand where he's going. He tries again. Has she ever lost someone she wished could come back? She answers with a no, not really sort of response. Jack deems her hopeless and attempts to return to his chest rummaging. Kat stops him. What is he trying to say, she wants to know.

He whips around so fast that Kat jumps in surprise. He says, "What if I were to tell you that the power to have whatever you want - whenever you want it - is right there… on your finger?" Kat is speechless. She says nothing, but looks wide-eyed at Jack. Jack sees he's made headway, so he wraps an arm around Kat's shoulders and leads her to sit on the desk. "No one can tell you what you can and can't have… you simply ask for it, and it's there. Right there. In your hands. Whatever you like."

"This ring… it grants wishes?" she asks. Jack scoffs at the idea, shaking his head and laughing.

"Grant wishes, no. How silly. No…" Jack takes her hand, looking at the ring, then back up at her face. "This isn't the prize… no, that would be too easy… this… this is the key to the prize." Jack flips her hands over and reads to her the inscription on the bottom of her ring.

"Coordinates?" she asks, and Jack says, "exactly", then remarks about her catching on relatively fast for such a puny thing. Kat takes offense and opens her mouth to protest, but Jack has begun to talk again. He has begun to elaborate on the idea of having all the world's treasures right at their fingertips, ripe for the taking, blah blah blah, and so on and so forth. Kat lets him talk for a bit, then she interrupts and asks what all that has to do with his bit about life after death and all that.

"Oh, yes, that," he remembers, then shrugs it off. "It's nothing. Some people just don't ask for treasure, that's all."

He falls silent and turns back to rummaging through the chest. Kat, curious, wants to press him to elaborate… she feels like there is something that he is concealing from her, but all hints of something being amiss seem to have evaporated from his demeanor, so she lets it go. She hesitates, then decides to ask him a simpler question.

"And… this thing… it is.. .where?"

"Down south… ish."

"And you want to use it to find… treasure?"

Jack pauses, his back still to Kat. Again, the sense that he is not sharing something overwhelms her, and the tension permeates the silence.

"Well, isn't that what pirates usually are after?" he returns. He attempts to be warm, but an evasive undertone marks his words.

Jack scoops up a few more pieces of clothing then drops them atop the book in Kat's hands as he saunters toward the door. Kat watches him, thinking. She has an idea.

"And what if I don't want to go?"

Jack stops, then turns around slowly. "What?"

"I said, what if I don't want to go?"

Jack laughs, pointing out that she doesn't have much of a choice. Kat suddenly asks what he would do if she decided to jump overboard. He looks at her for a moment, then asks her why the hell she would do something that stupid. She smiles.

"Desperate people do desperate things for things they desperately want, Mr. Sparrow."

"And what might that be?"

"Safe passage to London when this is through. Deal?"

Jack looks her up and down, visibly weighing the situation in his mind. After a few long moments he finally shrugs and turns back around. "Have it your way… And," he leans in the doorway, looking over one shoulder, "It's Captain, mate. Captain Jack Sparrow."

He exit's the room, leaving Kat alone to change.

A few moments later, we find Jack at the helm, thoughtfully steering the ship. Behind him, Kat (now dressed in over-sized men's breeches and a shirt) climbs up the stairs and approaches him. She is still holding the book. She gingerly hands the item over, which he subsequently stuffs into his coat. She asks him what now, and he tells her that they have to make a stop somewhere before they do anything else. She asks him where that might be, and Jack grins and says, "Where else, mate?"


	4. PART III

**PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN IV**

**PART III**

The scene reopens as Jack and Kat walk through the rowdy streets of Tortuga. Jack heads the two, eyeing the festivities around him as he walks with his usual drunken swagger. Kat is more than a little taken aback by her surroundings, but to Jack, it's business as usual. Kat has gotten distracted by a sign bearing the words "Come See the Great Arabian Swords Master at the Faithful Bride" and "Arabian" and "Master Swordsman" and other captions. A man is shouting to an enticed crowd about the sight, telling them to come back tomorrow to see him. Kat, in her distraction, is left by Jack. She nervously looks around and is immediately accosted by two very drunken men before Jack slips back over and pulls her away.

She asks Jack if he has ever heard of "The Arabian", but he says no and that's that.

Jack and Kat go to the Faithful Bride Tavern, where Jack goes to look for drink, food, and (most importantly) Gibbs. Kat is left to fend for herself.

Jack slinks through the crowd, milling his way to corner by the fire where a tipsy looking Gibbs is telling a story to Scarlett and Giselle. They are giggling happily and Gibbs looks very pleased until he looks up and sees Jack standing over him. Scarlett and Giselle follow suite, voicing their dismay at Jack's unwanted presence. They stand to leave and Gibbs watches them go sullenly as Jack pulls up a chair and hands Gibbs a mug. Gibbs tells Jack that he thought that he'd made it clear that his days of gallivanting around looking for accursed treasure was through. Jack asks who said anything about accursed treasure, and Gibbs gives him a dirty look and begins to harp about retirement. Jack, ignoring his protests, pulls out the book and lobs it onto the table. Gibbs stops his griping abruptly, groping the book up into his hands. He looks at it confusedly, so Jack flips open the cover and Gibbs takes a look. Gibbs eyes the pages for a moment then immediately turns the book over and casts an unsubtle startled look about the room before turning back to Jack. He is clearly astonished. He asks Jack where he came by the thing, and Jack shrugs. He tells Gibbs that where he got it doesn't matter, but what they do with it does. Gibbs has calmed down a bit, rationalizing that it don't matter that he's got the book if he ain't got the ring, but he stops short when he sees the smile on Jack's face. "Yeh have the ring!" he shouts, before stifling himself with a fist to his lips. He reaches out and takes Jack's hands, looking for the ring. Unable to find it, he looks back up at Jack. He asks Jack where it is, saying, "Well, let's see it then." Jack pauses, then tells Gibbs that the ring isn't exactly on his person at that moment. Gibbs is confused, so Jack leans and gives Gibbs a clear view of Kat, who is standing fearfully where Jack left her, eyeing the pockets of drunken pirates. Gibbs looks at Jack, his eyes wide. He asks who she is exactly. Jack opens his mouth to answer, then frowns. "You know, I don't think we got quite that far."

Kat attempts to make a grab for one pirate's coin purse, but winds up instead being accidentally jostled by some of the patrons and winds up bumping into the back of one man. The man turns around and she realizes that it is the bulbous bidder from the auction earlier. Her eyes widen and she begins to back away, crying, "Captain Sparrow!" Jack turns in his seat and sees the man advancing on her. Gibbs looks at him questioningly and Jack glances at the door, where he would like to run. However, the bulbous man has caught sight of him and it is now too late to escape. "Bugger," Jack curses. The bulbous man turns to growl at Jack, and Kat slides under is legs and runs towards where Jack is with Gibbs. She rushes behind him as Jack stands and tries to reason with the pirate. The pirate's goons are all cornering in on him, drawing their weapons, so Jack shrugs and pulls out his sword and calmly readies himself for battle, then turns and pushes Kat and they run to the back. Gibbs overturns the table where they were sitting to slow the pirates down and follows quickly behind Jack. The book, which was still resting in the center of the table when Gibbs overturned it, does not fall completely off the table, but catches on a nail at the center and simply hangs in place.

Jack shoves Kat into a back room, telling her that if it weren't for that ring, she would be much more trouble than she's worth. He goes to close the door, then pauses and opens it a hair. "What did you say your name was?" "I didn't," she replies, then adds, "Kat."

"Kat? Like the (Jack makes a noise that sounds something like a cat meowing) kind?"

"Yes, but with a K."

"Fair enough. Op!"

Jack slams the door on her and dives to the side just as a bottle of rum smashes against the door where he was standing moments before. Kat backs into the darkness of the room and against some bars. She breathes heavily, not hearing the movement behind her over her heavy breathing.

Suddenly, a hand reaches around her face and over her mouth. She lets out a muffled yelp, but the owner of the hand shooshes her then releases her. She turns and stumbles back, realizing that she had backed up into the outside of a cage. Clutching the bars and looking at her is a man wrapped in heavy garb. She can only see his eyes and the bridge of his nose. She asks him who he is, but he doesn't speak. She looks to the right and sees a sign hooked to the upper part of the cage reading "Master Swordsman of Arabia". She says this aloud, then waits for an answer of some sort. He is silent still. She then asks him if he's trapped, but he says nothing again. He gestures to the keys that rest on a hook on the wall to her right. She asks him if he wishes to be free. He looks back and forth between her and the keys, but she's hesitant. She muses that there must be a reason that he is in the cage in the first place.

Voices at the door cause Kat to fall into silence. The man in the cage looks at her with urgency, and she asks if he promises he won't kill her if she sets him free. Kat realizes that she doesn't have much of a choice - it's either get killed by the men at the door or the one in the cage, and she knows she definitely won't find a friend in the men at the door, so she decides to take her chances. "Good enough," she says. She rushes to the keys and pulls them of the hook, then runs over to the cage and frantically unlocks the door just as the men burst into the room. She spins around, her back to the bars again.

The men laugh at the site of her, taunting her. She warns them to stay back or else. They laugh, asking her what she's going to do about it. They ask her if she thinks the big man in the cage will be able to help her, then turn to jeering at the Arabian, calling him dumb and useless. They point out that he is in a cage and will be of no use to Kat. Kat has been edging away from the door and along the bars to the side. The men are so caught up in their laughter that they do not notice that the cage's door has swung open.

They look up from their laughter and jump in surprise when they realize that the door is open and that the Arabian is standing at the mouth of his cage. They pull out their swords, ready to fight. The Arabian reaches behind his back and pulls twin cutlasses from the sheaths over his shoulders, then rushes at the frightened pirates. The pirates turn to run and Kat clambers after the Arabian. The Arabian flies into the main room, causing many of the fighting men to back out of his way. He fights off any takers with his agility and speed and awesome ambidexterity.

Amidst the fray, Gibbs repeats what Jack has told him off camera about the entire story before their meeting, starting with a good, old fashioned "Let me get this straight". He then asks Jack what exactly the fight is about. Jack answers that they've had a run in with an old friend from Saint Lucia who's a little miffed about the whole girl and ring thing. They back to back cut down a bunch of pirates. Kat hops over their fallen attackers and greets them, and Jack says that he told her to keep in the back room. Kat glances quickly at the fighting Arabian, then looks back at Jack and says, "Something came up."

A body flies past Kat, and she dodges the falling figure. She asks if they may leave now, and Jack decides that that would be a good idea. Kat readies herself to leave, then at the last minute, notices a sallow-skinned man leaning against the wall. It is the same man she saw at the inn back on Santiago de Cuba. He spots her, then begins to move toward her. At the last second, Jack grabs Kat and pulls her away as a large man falls from above to where she would have been standing, blocking off the goateed man. They run towards the door, but Jack stops short, remembering that he'd forgotten the book at the table. He spins around, spots the book still hanging in its place, runs over to it and plucks it from the nail. Without a second look, he shoves the book into his coat and flies out the door. He doesn't realize that a page has been left behind on the nail.

They make it to the ship, scurrying up the gangplank to the latter and onto the deck. Jack and Gibbs stand at the rail of the boat, ready to pull up the latter after Kat is aboard. But as Kat goes to climb over the rail, Jack stops her and asks her if she has any idea why there is a strange looking fellow on the dock watching them.

The Arabian is standing at the edge of the dock. Kat scurries down the latter, runs to him and tells him thanks for helping her, but she has to go. The Arabian seems very distracted by Jack and Gibbs and doesn't budge. Kat tries to get his attention, snapping and waving her hands. She addresses him like someone would talk to a dog, with a little shoo shoo, assuming he doesn't speak English. He still doesn't move. Kat sighs exasperatedly. Gibbs lets out a shout that the men are coming for her, and she looks up and sees a mob of angry pirates approaching the dock. She swiftly turns to leave and runs back up the dock before Jack and Gibbs pull the latter away. The Arabian watches her go.

Kat sits on a barrel and Jack asks for an explanation about the cloaked man, and she tells him its nothing, just some master swordsman from Arabia that she'd met in the tavern. "Oh, that's all," Jack concludes nonchalantly and totters over to the helm, but Gibbs gives her a quizzical look. She explains that she set him free from a cage in the back room at The Faithful Bride, but that she told him that she had to go and everything was fine now.

Just then, they hear a splash off the starboard side of the ship. The three rush over to the railing and lean over to look into the water, but the Arabian climbs up behind them on the port half of the ship. They turn when they hear him slosh aboard. Jack and Gibbs immediately go to draw their weapons, but Kat jumps down in front of them and runs to stand between them and the Arabian. She explains that he must not have understood her, but that he means well. She tries again to make him leave, but he stands his ground, looking suspiciously at Jack and Gibbs. At Kat's urging, the three men all go to put away their swords and be at ease and Kat looks pleased, but Jack goes to scratch his nose and they all pull out their swords again. Kat tries to calm them down, grabbing onto the Arabian's arm and telling him that the men are friends. "Friends!" she repeats, then walks to hug the two who are still holding their swords. They both look a little taken aback, but the Arabian seems placated. He slowly puts away his swords as do the other men. He stares them down a bit, but Kat decides that a little scary look is fine as long as no one is being impaled. She heads for the Captain's Quarters and is followed closely by the Arabian. Jack and Gibbs exchange looks.

Back on the shore, the sallow-skinned man watches as the ship sails away in the moonlight. He slowly lifts the forgotten page to his lips, gives it a kiss, then slides it carefully into his jacket.


	5. PART IV

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN IV

PART IV

Gibbs is sitting on a barrel and casting sideways glances at Jack. Jack leans back in a chair, his legs propped up on the captain's table, eyeing the Arabian. The Arabian is peeling a potato a bit menacingly with a dagger, watching Jack very closely and occasionally shooting looks at Gibbs. Kat is looking out the window, holding the leather-bound book in her hands. She turns quickly to face them, and the other three quickly disguise their unease. Kat flips the book open and asks what they are to do now. Jack points out happily that the reason they picked up Gibbs in the first place is because he can read Latin. Kat remarks on how she thought Jack could read it, but Gibbs scoffs and points out that whatever strain is in that book is far beyond Jack's level of comprehension. Jack gets a bit miffed at that and sticks his tongue out at Gibbs back.

Kat hands Gibbs the book and backs up to sit next to the Arabian. The Arabian moves his legs so that she may have more room, then tosses his peeled potato into a bucket of water, splashing some of the valuables which Jack had so painstakingly separated from the junk earlier. Jack hops up and voices his disapproval, moves the bucket up to the captain's table, and takes his seat once more. All the while, Gibbs has been translating the book aloud. He mentions something about directions and a map, then flips through the book. He pauses, then does it again. And again. And again. Finally, he snaps the book closed then demands to know where Jack got the book. Jack, who has been concentrating on a staring match with the Arabian, comes to in a start. He says that he lifted it off of a tavern keep who was using it to prop up a crooked table and why does it matter anyhow? Gibbs slaps a hand across his forehead, then tosses the book at Jack.

"Because, Jack, it ain't got a map… it ain't even got directions… the last page is ripped clean out!" Gibbs shouts.

Kat stands and goes to look over Jack's shoulder. Jack flips through the pages until he gets to the back, running his finger down the crease between the last page and the back cover where the torn edge of a paper protrudes clearly from the binding. Jack, nervous, murmurs something about him not remembering the book being like that before.

"Blast be damned, Jack! What good is it," Gibbs growls, "to have the coordinates to place if yeh ain't got any way of knowing where the hell yeh're are once yeh've got there? How are yeh supposed to find the treasure if yeh've got nothing to lead yeh to it!" Kat reaches over Jack and takes the book, then walks back to Gibbs. "Surely something can be done?" she wonders aloud.

Gibbs takes back the book, and once more flips through the pages. He lets out a sigh, then begins to tell Jack that he'd best be returning him to Tortuga. Jack objects, which Gibbs reproaches hotly, and soon the two have begun a loud argument. Kat takes the book from Gibbs and walks it over to look at it in better light before a candle. She examines the torn paper carefully, hoping to discover some sort of lingering trace of directions. She finds nothing.

With a sigh, she glances over to the Arabian. She is surprised to see that he is no longer peeling potatoes, but seems to be watching the fight with rapt interest. Kat too turns her head to look at them, then realizes with a start that the Arabian isn't interested in the fight at all. Some sort of reddish projection of something is flashing across the side of Jack's face, hair, and upper body. Kat moves to take a better look, but the image vanishes. She moves back into the spot by the candle, and the picture reappears. Her eyes widen and she realizes that the reddish image is a reflection from her ring… Concentrating, she angles her hand next to the candle, and the image bursts into sharp clarity. It's a map.

Kat's eyes widen and she gasps. Gibbs, who has stopped yelling at Jack and noticed the reflection, stares with an open mouth at the side of Jack's face. Jack, unaware of the hologram projecting itself on his body, continues to snap at Gibbs, eventually trailing off until Gibbs grabs around Jack's cheeks to steady him and get a better look. "My God…" he murmurs.

"What?" Jack mumbles through pursed lips, "What is it?"

"I don't believe it…" Gibbs whispers, then pulls Jack back to let the reflection project onto the wall behind them. At once, the map appears on the wall, a perfect ruby-red image detailing the landscape of a small island. To the right of the island are words of direction, and below, a compass.

"The map…" Kat says softly, looking down at her ring. The room is silent for a moment, then Jack is the first to spring from their reverie and bound for the captain's table. He orders Kat not to move, then grabs up some parchment and a quill and scurries over to the wall. He holds up the paper behind the reflection, then bids Gibbs come over and draw the map onto the paper. Gibbs takes the paper and follows the lines of the projection with his quill and Jack, satisfied, saunters back over to his table and takes his seat, exclaiming that there couldn't have been a better finger attached to Kat's ring. The Arabian, who has reverted back to his sullen indifference to the goings-on in the cabin, simply tosses another peeled potato into the bucket of water resting on Jack's table, splashing the pleased captain full in the face.

---

The film cuts to the sallow-skinned man entering a dark room. The dim light that exists in the chamber is emitted from large, red candles that adorn the walls. He slowly approaches a table and grabs a chair. Wordlessly, he slouches down into the seat and begins to remove his gloves. The sound of something stirring does not cause the man to look up. Suddenly, a hand juts out from the darkness and plunges a dagger into the table. The sallow-skinned man raises his head and casts a witheringlook at the source of the hand. "Patience, my lord," he warns.

A deep voice hisses from the darkness, quieting him abruptly. The voice insists that he's waited long enough… he wants the ring and he wants it now. The sallow-skinned man cocks his head to one side, a deep frown jutting across his features. He tells the voice that he shall just have to wait longer then.

A man in a long, white, curled wig emerges from the blackness. His face remains in shadow, but we see his teeth glinting in the glow.

"Mister Blackwell… Cain. You promised me the ring. You promised me…"

"I know, my lord," Blackwell begins, but the other man cuts him off once more, stepping into the light. His face is fully illuminated and we see that he has a horrible burn running from his jaw up through his eye and to his forehead. He is clearly blind in one eye, which has a milky white sheen to it. Pieces of his skin are marked with scars. He has tried to cake makeup over his damaged visage, but it only adds to his hideousness. "Does this look like a fulfilled promise to you?" he shrieks. The man begins to scream about his disfigurement and how he has hoped to remedy it for years, and that "the thing" was his one last chance. How that he, Antoine Charbonneau, once revered for his handsomeness, was now feared as a monster and would be forever if it were not to be his. Blackwell seems generally composed, but his grip on the arm of the chair has tightened. He opens his mouth to reason with Charbonneau, but the other man has begun to scream louder and throw things about the room. This doesn't last for very long before Charbonneau collapses into another chair, sobbing. Blackwell stands and approaches the crying man, then reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small book, which he tosses onto his companion's lap. Charbonneau gradually ceases crying, then reaches to his lap. He picks up the small book and asks what it is. Blackwell urges him to take a look inside. Charbonneau carefully opens the tiny book, revealing a folded piece of paper resting safely at its center. Blackwell adds that they're missing the coordinates, but it shouldn't take long to crack the location with the help of a couple of skilled cartographers. Charbonneau lifts the paper and unfolds it, looks at it for a few moments, then realizes what it is - the map. Gleefully, he takes back his anger and bids that Blackwell tell him how he recovered it. Blackwell smiles, answering that a little birdie gave it to him… or a sparrow, rather.


	6. PART V

Question - anyone reading this? Haha. Reviews?

* * *

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN IV

PART V

Jack and Gibbs sit in a small wooden dingy, paddling their way through the Pantano bayou. Fireflies light the darkness, but other than the insects, the area seems to be deserted. An eerie hush consumes the swamps. Gibbs says that he suspects that things have been a bit different around here since Tia Dalma (Or Calypso, rather) abandoned her home to accompany the old gang to WORLD'S END. Nothing like the departure of an all-powerful goddess to clear out he natives, Jack agrees. He and Gibbs reach the small dock below what was once Tia Dalma's shack then exit the boat. Jack climbs up the ladder to the main level while Gibbs remains below to tie up the dingy.

The shack is completely dark, so Jack lights and carries in a torch. As he makes his way through the room, he lights the lanterns that adorn the wooden walls. As the room becomes more and more illuminated, we see that the since Tia Dalma abandoned her home, the shack has fallen into disrepair. Cobwebs consume and obscure various voodoo objects. The shack has been ransacked and looted, and only various bits and pieces of Tia Dalma's old possessions are left. A map laying across the table at the center of the room is covered by a large yellow snake. Gibbs enters the room, then jumps in surprise at the sight of the huge reptile and attempts to dismiss himself dignifiedly before exiting the structure. Jack watches him leave, then drops his head to examine the floorboards. He walks slowly across the floor, listening for any hint of a discrepancy between the sounds emitted by the pieces of flooring. After a few seconds of looking, he steps on a board that gives off a more hallow sound. He subsequently raises one foot and slams his boot heel down on the end of the board, causing the board to raise up at one end, revealing a hidden compartment in the floor. It is clear that he knows what he's looking for. He quickly puts out the torch and lays the thing at his side before lifting the board up further. He submerges his hands into the mess of darkness that lays underneath and uncovers a thin sleeve of wood. Jack grins, pulling the wood from the hole and lifting it to the light. But he opens it to find its contents missing. Puzzled, Jack looks back down towards the secret compartment.

Behind him, the sound of a gun cocking catches his attention. He raises his head but does not turn around, though his uncharacteristically upright demeanor is enough acknowledgement for the silhouette standing in the doorway behind him. "Lookin' for this, Jack?" the silhouette's all-too familiar voice asks. Jack reaches to his right and lifts a lantern from a hook in the wall, then turns to face the aggressor. The light from the lantern illuminates the man before him, casting a menacing glow over his weathered features. Barbossa.

The other pirate holds a small pouch in one hand, the thin twine straps wrapped about his long fingers. In the other, he levels a pistol in the direction of Jack's head. A cool smile is etched across his face. Behind Jack, entering into the front doorframe, a gagged and bound Gibbs is being held between the grinning Pintel and Ragetti.

---

Back on the ship, Kat sits on a table in the galley, eyeing the Arabian intently. She watches him as he methodically sharpens one of his scimitars. He attempts to act as though he doesn't notice that she is observing his every move, but his patience begins to betray him as she sidles in closer to get a better look at him. He finally casts a disparaging look up at her, which she rebuffs with a self-satisfied smile. He turns away and resumes his sharpening with his back turned to Kat. Kat simply crawls across to the other side of the table. Frustrated, the Arabian sets down his scimitar and file on the table and stares challengingly back at Kat. She attempts to introduce herself to the Arabian, giving him the good, ol' "Me - Kat, you… ?" but he is unresponsive. She tries to elicit an answer from him for a while, then turns to asking him if he's mute. He reaches for the scimitar and file and turns away again. Kat becomes quiet. He silently resumes his work, and, likewise, Kat resumes watching him. A few moments pass, then Kat suddenly begins to yell and clap her hands erratically. The Arabian jumps, reacting to her sudden outburst of noise. She decides that he must not be deaf. She again tries to get him to tell her his name. He ignores her.

She decides that if he will not tell her his name, she will have to name him herself. She eyes him seriously, sliding closer as she observes him until the side of her thigh is against his arm. He clearly dislikes her nearness.

"George," she suggests abruptly, then shakes her head. "Merrick? Bartholomew? William?" The Arabian stands, picking up his scimitar and attempting to escape Kat, but the girl simply cannot be deterred. "Francis? How do you like Francis?"

Without warning, the Arabian barrels around, throwing an arm about Kat and pulling her to the floor. He wraps his free hand about her face, covering her mouth as he drags her behind a cluster of barrels. She kicks a little, but he shushes her. Suddenly, it becomes apparent why he tackled her - voices emanate from the area outside the door and these voices do not sound familiar. Kat stops struggling and the Arabian lets go of her mouth. They both crawl further behind the barrels, peering out into the room through a space between two of the drums.

All at once, the lights flicker and a group of men enter the room with a noisy crash. They see that Jack and Gibbs have both been bound and are being held hostage by three men. The first man to enter the room is Barbossa, who immediately goes to rest his gun on one of the barrels and then to lean on the front of the captain's table. Ragetti and Pintel, now dragging Jack as well as Gibbs, stumble across the room after Barbossa, tripping over a couple of loose pieces of cargo as the do. They set Jack and Gibbs down on the floor, then take their place behind Barbossa and the table.

Barbossa begins to acquaint Jack with his tale since they last parted ways after the battle of the maelstrom last year. He talks of how he was very angry to discover that Jack had stolen the inner circle of his map (which Jack is quick to point out would never have happened if he hadn't suspected that Barbossa was going to try to take it in the first place - which he did). Barbossa shuts him up, then resumes his tale, detailing how the crew just didn't feel right leaving Jack after all he'd supposedly done for him, and subsequently dumped him too, leaving them shanghaied and alone on Barbados. Jack inquires about the whereabouts of the Pearl, and Barbossa says that it's hidden in an alcove in the harbor. Gibbs makes a face - he doesn't understand - he thought he was mutinied? Ragetti explains that it was more of a reverse mutiny… meaning the crew left them with the ship as opposed to vice versa. Pintel, in a bit of a huff, interjects that no one bothered to tell the two of them that they were reverse-mutinying. Ragetti continues, saying something about how he didn't think the rest of the crew fully got over the "undead pirate thing", which Pintel agrees to heartily, damning the Pearl's crew for not being able to overlook their past discretions... "Very disappointin', to be honest with you. And me, thinkin' we had all developed some sort of deeper, brotherly bond -"

Barbossa quiets the two with a bark, and they meekly fall silent and move to sit against the wall opposite of where Kat and the Arabian are hiding. A screeching Jack the monkey enters through the doorway and climbs atop Barbossa's shoulder. Kat and the Arabian share a look.

Barbossa picks up his story again. He explains that he sailed to the swamp, knowing that Jack would have to make an appearance at some point. Jack is quick to ask what if he hadn't, but Barbossa waves it off. He says he knew that Jack couldn't go prancing around for long without needing the help of some voodoo magic of some sort. Jack takes offense, insisting that Barbossa surely must put a bit more stock in him than just that. Not really, he answers. Jack, frustrated, accuses Barbossa of just being jealous because he is clearly the superior captain of the two and that the crew would have never committed mutiny had he been there. Barbossa shoots back that that is obvious - the crew left because he was gone in the first place. "Exactly," Jack says. Barbossa surmises that the minds of the crew must have been addled by those years sailing under such a miserably pitiful captain, to which Jack answers that he evidently wasn't the pitiful one (in comparison to Barbossa), and that he considers himself to be the finest specimen of a pirate captain to sail the Seven Seas, commanding the respect and adulation of all he meets. Barbossa snaps back that Jack couldn't command the respect and adulation of a fish. Pintel and Ragetti's heads have been following the argument back and forth, and even Gibbs looks a little flustered. As all this has been going on, Jack the monkey has been bobbing around Barbossa's shoulder. He senses that there is someone else in the room.

Behind the barrels, Kat is scrambling for a means of protection. The Arabian doesn't show any sign of concern for the scene enrolling before him, so she knows he will be of little help. She realizes that Barbossa's gun is in reach on top of a barrel to her far left - all she has to do is crawl quietly behind the rest of the barrels then reach up when no one is looking and snatch the gun.

She resolves to give the plan a try and immediately starts moving on her hands and knees towards her destination. The Arabian doesn't realize that she's moved until she's too far away for him to grab, but that doesn't stop him from trying to get her to come back. She glances at him over her back, and he gestures wildly for her to get back over to him, but she merely looks at him and resumes crawling forward.

Jack snaps and begins to make an attempt to come at Barbossa. Unfortunately, since he is currently tied to the larger Gibbs, the extent of his movement are a couple of semi-threatening bounces up and down on his rear-end. Barbossa steps forward to demand the map back from Jack, who vows not to give it to him, and the two begin a new verbal assault on each other. Gibbs, who has given up on the feud, has noticed that Kat is making an attempt to get Barbossa's gun. He sees her little hand reaching up to the top of the barrel and feeling around for the gun. Unfortunately, so has the Jack the monkey. He tries to warn Barbossa with a shriek, but Barbossa is far to involved in his argument to care at this point. Kat's hand falls back down as the monkey tries to warn Barbossa, but shortly creeps back up again, grasping for the gun.

Success! She grabs the gun and pulls it behind the barrel. Jack the monkey shrieks louder, hopping up and down on Barbossa's shoulder.

Behind the barrel, Kat is struggling with the gun. The Arabian watches her intently, observing that the possibility of her blowing her head off is more plausible than her actual making proper use of the gun. She accidentally fires the weapon, blasting a hold in one of the rafters above her head.

Jack and Barbossa fall silent, with Jack the monkey shrieking louder than ever. All eyes are fixed on the barrel which conceals Kat. Barbossa steps toward the barrel, prompting Kat to shoot up suddenly, the gun aimed in Barbossa's direction. She warns Barbossa not to make another move or she'll blast his brains out.

Barbossa eyes her for a moment, then breaks out in a fit of laughter. He turns back to Jack, completely unthreatened by Kat. He asks Jack if its customary of a all fine specimen of pirate captains to compose their crews of twelve-year-old-girls.

The Arabian, who has been cursing Kat's stupidity in silence behind the barrels, decides to reveal himself. He holds his two scimitars in his hands. Barbossa stops laughing, and reaches for his own sword. The Arabian slowly approaches Barbossa, circling around him for a moment, before going to strike. Barbossa moves to parry the blow, and the two swordsmen immediately start fighting. Jack and Gibbs try to slouch so as to not be decapitated in the skirmish, but it's not long before the two men swordfight their way out of the cabin and onto the main deck. Pintel and Ragetti move to overtake Kat, horrible grins on their faces, and Kat quickly flees the cabin. Pintel and Ragetti snigger and chase after the girl. Jack and Gibbs are left alone in the room, still tied to each other. They push against each other's backs and attempt to clumsily crabwalk out of the room too.

An epic swordfight between the Arabian and Barbossa has erupted on deck. The Arabian slashes and dives with his awesome ambidextrous skills while Barbossa turns and spins to keep up with him. The swordsmen are equally matched in ability, though Barbossa looks as though he is getting a little winded in the battle.

Kat has scrambled across the deck, Pintel and Ragetti close on her heels. She slips Barbossa's gun into the waist of her trousers and attempts to climb the ratlines. The two pirates are quick to hop on after her. She gains a little headway, climbing up to the top of the rigging at the boom, before she slips a little on the ropes and loses her footing. This slows her down, and it is not long before Ragetti is upon her and he is able to grab her ankle. Kat lets out a shriek.

Down below, the Arabian hears Kat's cry. He parries a blow from Barbossa, stands still, looks back and forth between Barbossa and Kat, then decides to go to Kat's aid and abandon his fight with Barbossa. Barbossa is slightly taken aback and stands in his place, watching as the Arabian goes to save Kat. Jack and Gibbs have come up behind the unaware Barbossa. Gibbs leans forward, lifting Jack up onto his back so that he can kick Barbossa. He uses both his legs to knock Barbossa onto his stomach. Barbossa falls across the deck, dropping his sword with a clatter before it slides away.

On the ratlines, Kat is trying to kick at Ragetti's hand. In her struggle, her hand begins to slip from the boom. The Arabian has climbed up to the middle of the rigging, where he has begun to push Pintel off the ropes. Kat finally loses her grip on the post and falls. The Arabian pushes Pintel away for a final time before reaching out and catching Kat's ankle as she falls by. She swings upside-down back onto the rigging, her eyes wide, and Barbossa's gun falls down to the deck below, where it instantly fires, blasting off Jack's hat.

She does not have long to recover. Jack is shouting at her to get down there and cut them loose. Kat looks down at him and Gibbs, then back up to Ragetti, who has started to make his way down to her. The Arabian lets go of her ankle and she falls down clumsily and jumps off the rigging, hopping over the fallen Barbossa to where Jack and Gibbs are standing, still tied together. She picks up Barbossa's sword and immediately goes to cutting the rope. Barbossa rights himself, snatching up his gun and moving back toward Jack and Gibbs. Kat begins to scream, trying to cut faster while as she scrambles to shield herself behind the two men. Barbossa demands that Jack hand over the map, to which Jack replies with a quick no. Back on the rigging, the Arabian is fending off the advances of both Pintel and Ragetti, who are quickly realizing that their opponent is a bit tougher than they're equipped to handle.

Kat trips and drops the sword, and Barbossa immediately grabs her and pulls her towards him, holding the gun to her head. He orders for a final time that Jack give him the map. Jack, thinks for a few seconds, and Barbossa prompts him again, his finger on the trigger. Jack abruptly shouts to Barbossa that another treasure is much more attainable at that precise moment, and wouldn't it interest him to know what that is? It is clear that it is taking everything in his willpower to admonish his secret. Barbossa, intrigued, presses Jack for more. "Not until you call your bloody goons off my foreigner and get your ruddy hands off of my Kat," Jack returns. Barbossa struggles with his thoughts for a moment, trying to make a decision. After a moment, his face relaxes into its usual scowl. He pulls the gun away from Kat's head and shoots a bullet into the sky, stopping the fight on the rigging immediately. They all turn to look at Barbossa.

"Change o' plans!" he announces, still holding the now confused Kat in his arms. She tries to make a break for it, but he holds her too tightly for her to make any real headway. He glances at Jack, who looks back at him with a self-satisfied smile. Barbossa rolls his eyes and lets go of the struggling Kat, who subsequently falls onto her face with no one to hold her up. Barbossa turns back to Jack, crossing his arms and asking if Jack is happy now. Jack thinks for a moment, then adds that he forget to ask if he could bother Barbossa to cut Gibbs and himself free from the ropes. Barbossa pulls out a dagger and slices the bonds. Gibbs totters away to sit down tiredly and Jack wiggles around to gain back the feeling in his torso and upper arms.

"Well," Barbossa prompts, and Jack looks to him. He turns away for a moment, thinking, then walks to Barbossa and puts an arm around the taller man's back. He guides him forward, propositioning him with the idea of wealth beyond his wildest dreams. Barbossa looks skeptical - Jack's pitch seems pretty unoriginal. Jack pauses, then shakes his head. He walks Barbossa over to Kat, who is still lying on the ground (she's pretty shaky after her ordeal), then crouches and lifts up Kat's hand to show Barbossa the ring. Barbossa squats down beside Jack and eyes the ring for a moment, a dark expression crossing his features. He goes to open his mouth to say something, but Jack shushes him. Barbossa looks peeved and raises an eyebrow, and Jack glances down at Kat, then back at Barbossa. Jack makes a face and nods in Kat's direction. Barbossa merely stares back at him, so Jack attempts to pantomime something, with the aid of over-the-top hand gestures and his own sound effects. Barbossa's reaction is a mix between humor, confusion, and annoyance. He looks down at the girl then questioningly up at Jack. Jack shakes his head, then nods, and Barbossa squints at the other pirate.

"Any reason why yeh're seizin' around ike that?"

Jack's eyes widen in surprise. "You mean to say…" he pauses, collecting himself, incommunicably happy that Barbossa has no idea what he's in store for, "That you've never heard of the treasure of…" He pauses again, this time for dramatic effect. "… Arakun?"

"Ara-what?"

"Arakun… er, fancy, foreign word for big, big treasure."

"Big, big treasure -"

"And did I mention power? Insurmountable power, my friend. Power to… find more big, big treasure."

"So what yeh're sayin' is this treasure o' yers opens up the possibility o' findin' new treasures?"

"Like a bloody trail of dominoes."

Barbossa looks at Jack for a moment, then turns his focus to Kat, who has been listening intently from her place on the ground.

"And what be yer part in this scheme of Jack's, little missy?"

"Jack's promised me safe passage to London when this is through."

"Safe?" Barbossa scoffs, chuckling. "And has it occurred to her that she's sailin' under you, and therefore won't stand a chance at even a little taste of a safe passage?"

"It's better than nothing," she concludes, rolling onto her back to look at Barbossa. Barbossa eyes the girl, then slowly looks back up at Jack, who has a broad smile on his face.

"Think of it, Hector… The chance to find something that could potentially make you the most wealthy man in the Caribbean… access to any amount of treasure… no more pillaging and plundering for a scrap here and a scrap there… You'll have the hulls of treasure totin' Spanish galleons at your fingertips, ripe for the taking… and you won't have to move a muscle to have them…"

Barbossa is quiet for a few moments, then straightens up to stand. Jack follows suite, a hopeful expression on his face. Barbossa looks to Jack, then down to Kat, then out to sea.

"Fine," he says, after a time.

Jack claps his hands cheerfully. "Right-o, mate. Good choice, very good choice. I knew you were a sensible man. I knew it from your hat."

Barbossa glares at Jack. "Conditions," he begins with a bark, and Jack immediately stops hopping about. "First, there's only one captain on this excursion and it's me, so no fussin' over who gets to touch the wheel or give the orders…"

Jack makes a face, then nods.

"Second, an equal share is nonsense. I want me fifty percent in addition to twenty-five percent o' whatever yeh've got yerself."

Jack opens his mouth to protest, the shuts it resentfully and shrugs.

"And thirdly… we are not sailing on this pitiful excuse of a sloop. The Pearl is the only ship we'll be makin' this voyage on, and I expect there to be no objections or whimperin' about my treatment and or handlin' o' my ship, clear?"

"Crystal… my good and gracious captain."


End file.
